Want to bring your own activation?

The deadline to get your activation placed and promoted is July 10

Pssst…you don’t need to sign up in advance to Do a Thing. All fun ideas are welcome, big or small. Show up with your enthusiasm and share it around. Here’s some simple jumping off points:

  • This years theme is Summer Spirits!

  • Some images that may come to mind to help inspire you

  • Rowdy flowers, birds + bees

  • An atmosphere bursting with electricity

  • A starry warm night

  • The salty ocean spray

  • A frosty soft serve on hot asphalt

  • A carefree swing in a hammock

  • Ideas on what to share

  • A snack that makes your heart smile in the summer

  • A weird sculpture or project that you dont mind showing off

  • A tradition you enjoy (e.g., tea in the morning, a sunset stretch)

  • A self-care habit (e.g., hair-and-nail accessories, a massage gun)

  • A cocktail party

  • A fireside tale

Sisyphus 2.0

By Melanie Armer

Photo by Jeremy Guillory

Sisyphus was an ancient Greek king who angered the gods by cheating death. His punishment was to push a giant boulder up a mountain in Hades, only to watch it roll back down every time it neared the summit. ​

Sisyphus 2.0 concentrates that struggle into a playful yet challenging interactive game. The six-foot steel sphere twinkles in the darkness. Two tones follow two rhythms. By turning the sphere, participants control the sounds and bring the tones into synch. ​

Roll the ball. Unlock the puzzle. Dance to the music. Repeat. 

Startling in its simplicity, the work speaks directly to our very human experience of trial and error and measured success, achieved by deep listening and coordinating efforts among a group of players. 

the MAzyrinth

Compete for a cash prize of $500!

We all had our pandemic projects. Gerry Kagan of Franklin Chthonics spent the pandemic years mowing a maze into a 2.5 acre field of Goldenrod. Since then we’ve been honing a fine puzzle hunt that we’ll be offering up to the first three theme camps that fully book their ticket packages.

There will be another opportunity during Aestival for attendees to explore the Mazyrinth aside from the puzzle hunt.

the ARGUS

Discover a thousand-eyed stone sculpture that transforms from a mythical sentinel by day to a vibrant spectacle by night.

Inspired by Argus Panoptes, best friend of Hera and guard of Io, this installation comes alive after dusk with projection art and immersive soundscapes. "The Argus" serves as a reminder to watch over one another with love, compassion, and grace.

Sculpture: Sophi Kravitz 

Projection Art: Eric Mortensen 

Sound engineering: Erica Quitzow 

Narratives: Jessica Barry, Erica Quitzow, Sophi Kravitz

Welding/ installation: OT Model Fabulous

markers mart

By Alana Miller

Come visit the Makers Mart where creativity and connection combine over art-making absurdity and delight.

Spin the dare wheel to select your art challenge and dive into a treasure trove of materials waiting to be transformed.  Make the sock puppet dreamboat of your wildest dreams! Adorn your nether regions with a bedazzled merkin!  The crafterstand encourages you to take a pause, get silly, and connect over art. 

TREE TOUR

By Levi O’Brien

Join Levi in exploring the world of trees!

We will cover historical importance, cultural meaning, ecology, biology and horticulture, as well as foundational skills of identification. If you have any small interest in trees or a yearning to dig deeper in an already explored subject, please join! 

Levi O’Brien is an arborist/garden consultant, an expert on all things tree and wood related and, above all, an educator. He is on faculty at the New York Botanical Garden, a Graduate student at SUNY ESF studying Forest Pathology, and a green-woodworker. He spends most of his time avidly pursuing knowledge about dendrology, horticulture, ecology, arboriculture, and wood history and use, in order to make it available to the public. 

SKYLOOMS

By Kate Marie Sclavi

Collaborative sky weavings using upcycled and indigo dyed fabric

Add to the creation of a giant skyscape weaving by adding fibers and/or natural materials. We plan to have fibers dyed using materials foraged from the land. We’ll also go on a walkabout to find materials that we can use to create our collective creation!

Welcome CEREMONY

By Jemila MacEwan

An occassion to chthonically connect

MacEwan cultivates kinships with landscapes and their communities of indwellers, regarding them as true collaborators who carry their own valid subjectivities, histories, and messages.

"For us to meet the challenges brought on by a world in change, we must shed the layers of denial that separate humans from the natural environment to recognize nature as a diverse network of powerful and animated forces, that deserves our attention, trust and respect." - Jemila MacEwan

And you!

Wanna do a thing? Sign up here with info about your art, class or activation and we’ll see what we can do about helping you!

While we have a production team and on-site resources, we are a first-year festival and won’t be able to commit to as much help as some established events. Nonetheless we’ll do our best to support your dazzling and enriching experience to Aestival.

Let us know what you have in mind with the form below

Have any additional files that will help illuminate us about your activation?

And more!

Yoga, Meditation and the Trampampoline of Doooooom

We’ll have many more centering, energizing and goofy-ass activations at Aestival. We’ll also have you!

Sign up for our mailing list below, and follow @franklinchthonics on instagram for updates